Accidents are the most unwanted thing to happen to anyone on the road, though they happen quite often. The report showed that the city and the state contributed 5% of the nationwide hit-and-run incidents at 163 and 2,470 cases, respectively. (The city hit-and-run figure was compared with the ‘national urban hit-and-run figure’, or the total number of such cases in 19 cities.)
Among states, Uttar Pradesh topped with 54,373 cases of death due to negligence that resulted in 60,936 fatalities from 2017 to 2019. Cases registered under Section 304(A) (causing death due to negligence) of the IPC during the period numbered 37,517 in Tamil Nadu, with these incidents resulting in 41,193 deaths. Madhya Pradesh at 32,305 cases and 35,787 deaths, Karnataka was fifth at 30,024 cases and 37,949 deaths. Among cities, Delhi topped with 4,075 cases and 4,493 deaths from 2017 to 2019, followed by Chennai at 3,808 and 3,950, Bengaluru at 2,055 and 2,142, Jaipur at 1,887 and 1,955, and the city at fifth place at 1,232 cases and 1,345 deaths.
According to the report by the ministry of road transport and Highway, close to 5 lakh road accidents occurred across the country annually, killing at least 1.4 lakh people. On average 50,000 of the accidents were hit-and-run cases, killing at least 18,000 people annually. In 79% of all accidents, the driver was found to be at fault, though that did not mean the person behind the wheel was punished for the crime. Conviction rates for urban road accidents typically hover between 5% and 10%. In hit-and-run cases, lack of eyewitnesses and surveillance typically leads to a “blind” close of the case if the victim does not note the licence plate number of the vehicle.
There are multiple reasons for road accidents, but most of the people are on call while driving thus they drive recklessly and accidents happen as most of the Indians now have mobile phones, this is the most potential reason. Distractions could be outside or inside the vehicle. The major distraction nowadays is talking on mobile phones while driving.
Indian drivers are quick to learn to drive but they don’t learn traffic rules and the purpose of such rules. Hence, they violate rules to put themselves and others on the road at stake. Indians buy a car without knowing the proper technique of driving in city traffic and highway traffic and do so without having basic emergency utility skills, most motor training schools don’t know them.
A tendency to violate traffic signals has been developed by Indians to save time while going to school, office or college because these institutions tend to be extremely humiliating while punishing latecomers. Malpractices such as over-speeding, triple riding, underage driving, etc are reducing the safety of road users. Most of us don’t know the latest amendments to the MVA (Motor Vehicles Act) unless declared via news.
Walking on the road with the phone in the ear, driving a car with the phone in hand, necessarily reading a text or browsing can be dangerous. There are innumerable reasons for mishaps on Indian roads. From alcohol to drugs, lack of effective law enforcement to pathetic road conditions and most importantly the lack of driving sense. I would rather not go into the details of the causes because bringing effectiveness is the accountability of the government. With so much going around in the country, the current situation most likely won’t improve in the distant future.
The legislators (Minister & other administrative officers, who make the rules) and the executors (the Police) themselves do not respect the law & rules of what to say of the general public. Police are supposed to execute the rules but, it may be a lack of workforce or lack of intention, they also fail to execute. Mostly police use the rules to mint money either officially by Chalan or in person.
The life of roads is not good due to the substandard raw materials and potholes accidents caused. The increasing traffic on roads and conditions of roads are not proportionate to each other. Bad roads are definitely an issue because it requires drivers to focus on the surface of the road instead of looking at traffic flow. A lot of drivers are either unskilled or scared to drive fast because of this, and that frustrates others who don’t mind going faster. The latter start to cut lanes and accelerate/brake abruptly, which only makes driving harder for other motorists.
The driving tests are a joke. When you have millions of untrained motorists on bumpy roads, it’s no surprise that there are crashes every once in a while. Consumption of alcohol to celebrate any occasion is common. But when mixed with driving it turns celebration into a misfortune. Alcohol reduces concentration. It decreases the reaction time of the human body. Limbs take more to react to the instructions of the brain. It hampers vision due to dizziness. Alcohol dampens fear and incites humans to take risks. All these factors while driving cause accidents and many times it proves fatal. For every increase of 0.05 per cent of blood alcohol concentration, the risk of accident doubles. Apart from alcohol, many drugs, medicines also affect the skills and concentration necessary for driving.
